The Gentlemen Baristas unveils new London roastery

The Gentleman Baristas’ new roastery is six time larger than its previous facility | Photo credit: The Gentlemen Baristas

The Gentlemen Baristas has unveiled a new state-of-the-art roastery and ‘experience centre’ in London in response to growing demand for specialty coffee and training across the UK. 

The specialty coffee roaster and café group, which currently operates nine outlets across London, said the 12,000sq ft facility in Stratford is more than six times larger than its previous roastery. 

The new facility also has a dedicated training space, including a cupping room, Specialty Coffee Association-specification school and UK Barista Championship practice area. 

With a designated event space planned for the site, The Gentleman Baristas is also seeking to raise customer awareness of specialty coffee. 

The Gentlemen Baristas has installed a new 35kg Loring Roaster at the new facility, which highlights as one of the most environmentally friendly and fuel-efficient machines on the market.

Other sustainability initiatives at the east London site include the introduction of recyclable and reusable coffee bags and a refill service for retail customers. 

“The roastery is the heartbeat of our business so we’re creating an all new accessible and engaging open-house. Empowering people through education and training from farm to cup; this is a space for our team, friends, the coffee community and the general public – something London’s not seen before,” said Ed Parkes, Co-founder and Director, The Gentlemen Baristas. 

Opening its first store in Borough, London, in 2014 The Gentlemen Baristas now operates a nationwide wholesale coffee channel, supplying cafés, restaurants and hotels, alongside a direct-to-consumer packaged coffee subscription. 

The Gentlemen Baristas manages its collection of coffee ‘houses’ under the maxim of ‘Well-Mannered Coffee’, which it defines as being “magnanimous, well-mannered, helpful and generous to our customers”.